Theatre Inconnu established the Shakespeare Festival in Market Square in 1991. In 1992, with the support of the City and the Provincial Capital Commission (PCC), the Festival performed in a tent in the Inner Harbor on a number of sites, until it moved to St. Ann’s Academy, which it used until 2002. At that time, Theatre Inconnu decided to focus more on contemporary and experimental theatre. However, the actors who were committed to seeing the Shakespeare Festival continue in some form asked Clayton Jevne, founder of Inconnu, for permission to keep the festival going. With Jevne’s blessing, the Victoria Shakespeare Society was formed to produce the Greater Victoria Shakespeare Festival.

In 2003, the Society launched its first festival with one play, Taming of the Shrew, in Centennial Square, attracting an audience of about 500 people. In 2004, the Festival moved back to St. Ann’s Academy, where two shows were presented that season. After a venue search, the Festival moved to the grounds of Camosun College’s Lansdowne Campus in 2005. Building on audience feedback and the success of the previous year, the Society staged two outdoor shows. The season was both critically and artistically successful and Camosun College became the GVSF’s current outdoor venue.

In 2007, Michael Glover, then president of the Society, became producing artistic director of the Festival, and the Society reorganized the GVSF’s format and schedule. The 2013 season experienced further growth, as the Festival built a modular semi-permanent stage in its usual playing space on the Dunlop Field. This new stage, with seating on three sides, allowed a more intimate experience for audiences, and was dubbed the Camas Stage by the Board of Directors in recognition of both the First Nations land on which it sits, and Shakespeare’s original stage, The Rose.

In 2014, Michael Glover stepped down from the organization, and then-festival producer Karen Lee Pickett was appointed by the Board as producing artistic director. The 2014 season saw the inauguration of the repertory company model, and in 2015, the Festival celebrated its stellar 25th anniversary season with A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Romeo & Juliet, which achieved critical success and record-breaking audience numbers.